Small Steps, Big Changes BY NICOLE M. YOUNG, MSW April is the Month of the Young Child and Child Abuse Prevention Month, which is a good opportunity to remind ourselves that 1) raising happy, healthy children is both exhausting and rewarding, 2) every parent struggles, feels unprepared, or worries they’ve failed at parenting at some point, and 3) everyone in the community can play a role in making sure children and families have the resources and support needed to thrive. This monthly article provides tips for families raising children, based on the world-renowned Triple P – Positive Parenting Program, available to families in Santa Cruz County. If you have a…
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April 2019 Letter from the Editors
Letter from the Editors: April 2019 Dear Readers, If I could go back in time to any part of my life, it would be summer camp. I went to one they should make a movie about. It was Camp Willoway in Upstate New York and it was an arts and crafty place, billed as being “noncompetitive.” I usually sum it up this way: our camp trip in 1969 was to the Woodstock festival. I was 13, my sister was 11 and we were in the heart of the biggest hippie gathering ever. We were so unprepared for what it would become. I was wearing black chinos and a blue button…
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It’s Not Just Candy and Soda: Healthy Smiles April 2019
It’s Not Just Candy and Soda: Healthy Smiles April 2019 By Alison Jackson, DDS “I don’t understand why my child has cavities. They don’t eat candy or drink soda.” I hear this every day. It’s true that sugar is bad for your teeth and parents are right to look to candy and soda as a cause of cavities. However, we are learning that things are often more complicated. The true cause of dental carries (the infectious process that causes cavities) is the acid that detrimental bacteria excreta on your teeth. These bacteria thrive on sugar. It doesn’t matter the source of sugar. Candy and soda are an obvious source of…
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Don’t Undermine the Other Parent
Don’t Undermine the Other Parent By Bob Derber Children are often drawn into parental disputes. One parent may speak poorly of the other parent in front of the children. It can be subtle and unintended, i.e., when a parent ‘apologizes’ to the child for restrictions imposed at the other parent’s home. In all events, speaking negatively about the other parent is detrimental to the child, and in the extreme, is a recognized form of child abuse. Divorce and separation are difficult for children of every age. Parents and family define their world and represent love and safety. Even older children who prefer to spend more time with friends than parents…
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Look for Alternatives to Compostable To-Go Ware: Green Tip
Look for Alternatives to Compostable To-Go Ware: Green Tip By Meredith Keet, Founder The Zero Shop In 2017, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors passed new rules for restaurants requiring that all food to-go ware provided to customers in unincorporated areas of Santa Cruz County be recyclable or certified compostable. At the time, this seemed to be a promising step forward. Now, for those of us without access to industrial composting, we do have to wonder, once we’ve carried these certified compostable items home, what do we with them? Can we recycle them? Can we throw them in our home compost bins? With a few exceptions, the answer to…
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Local Shopper Selfie: Green Family Living
Local Shopper Selfie: Green Family Living By Suki Wessling My main goal in this column is to feature local people who are doing their little bit to improve our community and our world. By chance, I noticed a Facebook post by Canaan Sasha, who detailed a few of the ways she is trying to improve her shopping habits. I need to talk to this person, I thought! And I did. Canaan has lived and worked in Santa Cruz most of her life, and her enthusiasm for our little corner of the universe is infectious. Here is an edited version of our conversation about how to save the world, one little…
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April Coloring Contest
April Coloring Contest! Deadline is April 15th Growing Up in Santa Cruz is having another coloring contest with a big prize: Two pairs of free all-day passes to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Have your kid color the page and submit it one of two ways: either scan it and email to [email protected] or mail it to Growing Up in Santa Cruz/Box 3505/Santa Cruz/ CA 95063. We’ll have a drawing to pick the winner, but you have to send in a colored page to win. We ask that the winners take a photo of themselves at their favorite Boardwalk attraction and we’ll post them. We’ll have a monthly contest through…
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Christmas in July (and April, May, June, etc.)
Christmas in July (April, May, June, etc.) By Ramona Pursley During the holidays our family has two Christmas trees in our home. One is in the entryway by the front door and the other is a smaller one in a corner of the dining room, which is the kids’ tree. The tree is artificial, pre-lit and four feet tall. The kids usually choose a theme and decorate it themselves every year. We usually take both trees down right after New Years Day. This year, the kids were very sad to have to take down their tree. CHRISTMAS IN JULY Andrew and Sophie Pursley didn’t want to take down their christmas…
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Observing a Digital Day: Behind the Desk
Observing a Digital Day: Behind the Desk By Lisa Catterall I never teach my pupils, I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn. Albert Einstein Recently my family was snowed in at a lodge in Tahoe. The roads were closed, and the news declared that students in their district would not take a snow day, they would observe a “Digital Day.” Any time I use something with an electronic screen in my classroom, the students practically wriggle with joy. It’s like they have been wrapped in a warm blanket, plopped on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate, and given a foot rub. It’s an…
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Finding Summer Camps with Flair
Finding Summer Camps with Flair By Jan Pierce Most of us remember summer camp. It was great: Rustic cabins, swimming in the lake, arts and crafts, songs around a campfire and capture the flag in the evenings. It still sounds good to me. But times have changed and lots of kids are more excited to plan a summer adventure around performance academies than attend a traditional summer camp. There are lots of options and while they are not inexpensive, they do offer wonderful opportunities for your kids. They can be week-long overnight experiences, or day camps only. SUMMER DAZE day camps, sleep away camps, arts camps, sports camps, fire fighting…
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Birth History – Know It!: Birth Matters April 2019
Birth History – Know It! By Laura Maxson, LM Celeste Philips died on March 7. I am rerunning this article highlighting the contributions she made to our collective birth history in honor of her impactful life. Rest in Peace. Celeste Phillips might look like a soft-spoken 80 year-old woman, but she has a powerful voice. She recently spoke before a gathering of midwives, nurses, doulas and others at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, making a living connection between yesterday and today. Families in our community have certain expectations when they go to the hospital to give birth. They expect to labor and give birth in the same…
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The Census: Being Counted Matters
The Census: Being Counted Matters By Zach Friend, County Supervisor Once each decade, the U.S. Census Bureau attempts to count every person in the United States. The next count will occur in a year and will be the first to rely heavily on online responses. Here in our county, we are doing a lot to ensure everyone is counted. Why does it matter? An accurate count of our state’s population is essential. The data collected by the Census determines the number of seats each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives and is used to distribute billions of dollars in federal funds to state and local governments. This means…
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Book Reviews By Kids For Kids
Book Reviews By Kids For Kids By Vincent, 6th grade at Santa Cruz Children’s School Flotsam Flotsam is about a boy at the seaside in the modern times. He discovers a sea camera. Then he sees pictures of ocean wonders and of all the people before him that have discovered the camera. He takes a picture of himself, but a wave hits him and the sea camera is lost, then an- other child discovers the sea camera. My favorite part of the story is when the boy sees all the pictures of the underwater camera. David Wiesner is the author and the illustrator of the book. You can find this…
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Local Author Pens Magical Music Book
Local Author Pens Magical Music Book By S. F. Davis Author B. T. Brunelle has called Santa Cruz home since 1968. A UCSC honors graduate, she continued there as a music lecturer, emphasis on voice and songwriting. She founded the original Santa Cruz School of Music in the 70s and head- lined at all the hot spots: The Catalyst (where this town became a music mecca), Crows Nest, Crepe Place, Club Zayante, and Kuumbwa, where she performed and taught for years. Ms. Brunelle’s sultry, rich voice carried her original compositions to L. A. audiences, too, among them at the Troubadour, Ice House and McCabes. She, husband Jon Brunelle and other…
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Living a Dream: La Selva Beach Native Finds Career in Theme Park Industry
Living a Dream La Selva Beach Native Finds Career in Theme Park Industry Always Amused By Erik Chalhoub What started as a kindergarten hobby has turned into a lifelong pas- sion for La Selva Beach native Nicholas Laschkewitsch, and he has taken that love to find not only a career, but the opportunity to work on a project that will be seen by millions of people from throughout the globe. If you plan to brave the crowds later this year when Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is slated to open at Disney- land, you too can see just what Laschkewitsch helped make a reality. Laschkewitsch recently wrapped up a five- month…
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Career Technical Education: It’s Not Your Father’s Vocational School
Career Technical Education: It’s Not Your Father’s Vocational School By Suki Wessling Soquel High School’s woodshop is a large, airy, and loud space. Soquel’s Industrial Arts and Woodshop teacher, Hal Rovick, has to raise his voice al- most to a shout as he points out the equipment, the students, and their projects. These students in his advanced class are focused and independent. One young woman shows off the shelving unit she is making with half-circles of hand-polished tree trunk. A small group confers about a project in another corner. Rovick raves about the jobs some of his former students hold. “They went straight from my classes to industry,” he says,…
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Another Book Fair is Coming
Another Book Fair is Coming By Sylvia Patience Book loving children and teens, their parents and teachers, are invited to meet local authors, hear them read from their works, and buy autographed books. The downtown branch of the Santa Cruz Public Library will host the SANTA CRUZ BOOK FAIR FOR KIDS OF ALL AGES on Sunday, April 28 from 1-3 pm. This year’s BOOK FAIR kicks off the hundredth anniversary of Children’s Book Week, the longest-running national celebration of books for young people and the joy of reading. Over one thousand schools, libraries, and bookstores will celebrate Children’s Book Week from April 29 to May 5 from coast to coast…
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From Growing Up in Santa Cruz to Competing in Australia: Extreme Adventures
From Growing Up in Santa Cruz to Competing in Australia: Extreme Adventures By Kevin Painchaud On a brisk Sunday morning I met the young Autumn Hays at Steamers Lane. With her surfboard tucked beneath her arms, I had a few moments to speak with her. It was her final days before she was to go on a trip to Australia to compete in a surfing competition. From growing up in Santa Cruz and going to Mission Hill Middle School then to Santa Cruz High, this 19 year-old-pro is making a name for herself in the surfing world. Photo by Kevin Painchaud EXTREME AMBITION Autumn Hayes, 19, has been traveling the…
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Quality Time Matters: Ask Nicole April 2019
Quality Time Matters: Ask Nicole April 2019 By Nicole M. Young, MSW I recently read that, “According to a [2007] report by the A.C. Nielsen Company, parents spend only 39 minutes per week in meaningful conversation with their children.” Yikes. That’s less time than it takes me to watch one meaningful episode of This Is Us. Although the report is over 10 years old, I wouldn’t be surprised if this statistic were worse now, given the exponential growth in use of smartphones and social media within the last decade. Dear Nicole, My family is doing fine overall – no major conflicts or problems with my kids’ behaviors. But our daily…
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Kids Read: The Shape of Whales
Kids Read: The Shape of Whales Written by Michelle Spence April marks the return of humpback whales to the Monterey Bay, after spending their winter months off the coast of Mexico. To get ready for the treat of casual whale sightings as you walk along the beach or drive up the coast, turn to these books with beautiful whale illustrations—and some sweet stories, to boot. If I Were a Whale Written by Shelley Gill Illustrated by Erik Brooks Beautiful and detailed renditions of nine different whale species accompany this simple rhyming celebration of these magnificent creatures. With just a smidgeon of technical detail (a distinguishing feature for each species), this…
